Japan FAQ
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
So first of all. FLIGHT and ACCOMMODATION is the most important factor when it comes to travelling:
Q1: Which airline do you recommend? And when should I book?
I know most people will actually recommend booking when there's a promotion going on. However, I realized that most of such promotions usually doesn't have very "good" flights; meaning these flights usually have a transit/weird timings/or simply have a period that you have to commit to and etc. So I would suggest booking early because that's when you can get the cheapest tickets with the best deal. Why would I say that? Here's what that happened to me: I went on 3 trips (All to Tokyo), 1 with SCOOT (budget) and 2 with ANA. For SCOOT, I booked about 3 months in advance while for ANA I book about 8 months in advance, both during Sakura Season.* (I don't care people call me kiasu or what I save money so shut your mouth LOL) So here's what I got:
Please note that I paid $650 for both the airline, but you can clearly see that booking early allows you to get a non budget airline with better benefits. I have flied with ANA before and I love everything from their food to their services. I know that I can't compare a non-budget airline with scoot but I strongly do not recommend a budget airline if you're flying more than 6h because it's going to super uncomfortable for you. AND ALSO WHY I LOVE ANA IS BECAUSE I HAVE A 46KG LUGGAGE ALLOWANCE ALL INCLUDED IN MY TICKET!!!! Great for shopaholic like me lol.
*Price fluctuates during different seasons, especially Sakura season. I checked that if you actually book 3 months in advance for ANA, it will be about $850.
Q2: Hotel or Airbnb?
I have personally stayed with Airbnb throughout my Tokyo trip because it's a great cost saver. Hotel in Tokyo generally costs $150 and up, which can be quite hefty. Airbnb wise, the price can range from $60+ and up. You can just adjust the filter to whatever price that you're comfortable with. Also, YOU NEED TO BOOK EARLY because unlike hotels, the apartment you want only have 1 available. Once the date you want is being booked, you have to source for another one, which can be quite a hassle. So if you book early, it means that you have more choices to choose from with the filtered price you selected.
From my personal experience, I suggest looking for a location that is near the prime areas such as (Harajuku, Shibuya etc) so you can also save on your transport fee. There was once we booked a place that was far out from the prime area and we spent a bomb on the transport back to our apartment every day.
Staying with Airbnb also means that you have the choice to choose whether you would like to have the entire apartment to yourself OR a room with other travellers or hosts. I feel uncomfortable staying with the host or other people so I always book the entire apartment. There was once my friend insisted on renting a room and it was hell because there were other travellers and everyone was snatching the toilet to shower so we ended up having to wait every time. (This was even when the host assured us that we won't need to snatch toilets lol)
One of the benefit of staying at Airbnb because it makes you feel like you are a resident in Japan. Some apartment comes with a kitchen, so you can head to the supermarket and whip up some good meals in the apartment if you don't feel like eating out! Which is why I highly suggest Airbnb instead of booking a hotel unless you're feeling rich.
This is a closed up photo of my bed in the apartment on my most recent trip and the bed was so comfy that I always feel like sleeping in!
Another option is to have a homestay.
I have only had a homestay once when I was on a school trip to Nagoya and it was pretty exciting because you never know what's going to happen. Different hosts have different plans for their guests. Ours allow us to make okonomiyaki and karaage from scratch and even brought us out into the forest to do some deer viewing. (Although no deers appeared sadly :( ) So If you're someone that love surprises and love to interact with the locals, I will suggest you to go for a homestay instead. Price wise will still be slightly cheaper than hotels.
**Some airbnb hosts love to interact with their guests as well, so if you're in luck the hosts might bring you around the neighbourhood!
If you have no idea on how to book on Airbnb/which rooms to select etc, I will cover it in another post so stay tune that.
Q3: Which part of Japan should I visit?
It depends on what do you want to do on your trip. If you're going on a cute & shopping trip, I will suggest you to visit Tokyo because that's where Disneyland and Disneysea are! (Not forgetting Sanrio Puroland, Ghibli museum, Snoopy museum and etc) and Every single time when I go to Japan, I will choose to go to Tokyo because I'm more towards the shopping and playing instead of sightseeing. (I mean, not like Tokyo won't have Sakura right?!?!) And you can see mount fuji if you're on a high building from faraway. It's still nice view right? hehehe.
Pretty in pink
Usually, I won't visit other cities because the Shinkansen is really really expensive. Even if you buy the 7 days pass, it's gonna cost you $300+ SGD. That could easily fetch you an air ticket to Taiwan/Bkk!! Another reason is that it's gonna be time consuming if you're going to another city and back to Tokyo at night for your apartment. Of course, you can choose to stay at the other city but have you thought about your luggage? Do you really want to lug it around from cities to cities?
So if I were to visit other cities, I would rather fly on a separate trip.
Q4: Portable wifi egg or SIM card?
This is probably the most important thing because wifi is bae. I'm just kidding LOL. But really, wifi is a must for everyone especially when you're in a foreign country. It's not fun getting lost and especially when all the people around you don't speak the same language as you do. Some airbnb hosts do provide a portable wifi, and if you're lucky, you won't have any issues with it. However, I've come across people that have problems with the host's wifi where they couldn't upload any photos or even access whatsapp. So to be safe, I've always rented one extra in Singapore just in case I've any issues with the other. (I don't believe I will be so unlucky that both will break down together lmao) And also just in case one doesn't have any battery, I will have a spare one as back up. I rented mine from Changi Recommends at $5 a day and it was really good. Both connection and battery life was great. Also, it's very convenient as they are just located at Changi Airport itself, which makes collecting and returning a breeze. Regardless of where you go, I will strongly recommend you to rent a portable wifi egg just in case of any emergencies. (*NOT A SPONSORED POST)
I don't recommend SIM card because they usually provides you will very limited data and you cannot share with others unlike the portable wifi egg. And I don't see why you need to call someone with a line when there's whatsapp/LINE call available now... Unless the person you're calling to is someone that is not tech savvy, if not I don't think it's necessary.
Q5: I don't speak Japanese, will I have trouble visiting Japan not knowing a single word?
This is the question that I got the most from people because Japanese don't speak much English. (But this doesn't apply to all of them - some of them speaks really good english!) So how do you express yourself when you need to ask/order something but can't speak in Japanese?!
I will talk about ordering of food first:
Firstly, ask whether the place provides an English menu. In order to attract foreigners, some stores will have a "English Menu available" sign outside of their store, so you can know what you're eating instead of getting a raw fish for that meal. Here's an example:
(Photo taken from: http://www.japanesesearch.com/kids-and-adults-discover-english-in-japan/)
So after deciding what I want, what I usually do is to point to whatever I want on the menu and show them with my fingers that I want 1 set of that and they will get it. Usually they will ask you some follow up questions in Japanese and if you don't understand, just say "sorry?" and if that question is not important, they will usually just proceed on with whatever you ordered. If the question is important, like "what drinks do you want?", you can see that the staff usually will point out to you on the menu so that you can make your choice OR get someone that has a better command of English to figure out together what you're trying to convey. Eventually they will understand what you want although it might be a little time consuming, but YAY YOU GOT YOUR FOOD ORDERED!!!
It's very normal to see a vending machine that dispenses tickets outside of a restaurant in Japan. Sadly, most of the vending machine doesn't have English on them, so what you do is to choose the "best seller" or the most expensive food on the vending machine so you won't go wrong. Another thing that you can do is that most stores have a banner outside showing what food they have (pictures of the food) and they usually will have the names of the food on the banner as well. What you have to do is just to look for the same word on the vending machine and VOILA you have it! After you got the tickets, just go in and hand it to the staff. They will serve your food in a while.
Let's move on to enquiring about certain things at a shop:
Let's say you're looking for something in a store and the shop is sooooo big and you don't wish to waste your time sourcing. Just show the photo of the item that you're looking for to the staff and if they have the item, they will bring you to it and if they don't have it, they will either shake their head or make a 'X' with their hands. Some will just tell you "no" so you know it's not available here.
If you have other questions, I suggest you download google translate on your phone. Although the translation might not be accurate, it's able to bring across what you wanna say to them and they will be able to understand it even it's broken Japanese.
I will come up with more guides to Japan - like places to go, food to eat and etc. Please stay tune!
Giftopia x samplestore
Monday, October 17, 2016
Hello hello everyone!
I was invited by Sample store to Giftopia last weekend and here's a summary of what happened during the weekends at the event!
One of the many booths at the event.
Pretty postcards!
Beauty-Keeper is also very kind to gift the influencers an entire box of goodies to pamper us from head to toe!!! From shampoo to mask to collagen!!!! #Blessed
Vaniday also have a booth there where they are offering really affordable express manicures and I have my nails done by the very talented Tania from Cutieclesbyt !
I was the first one at the booth #kiasu HAHA but it's a smart move ok cox after that alot of people are queuing up for the manicure.
My new nails with my new phone case that my sister got for me!
There's also a booth which they offer temporary tattoos! I didn't get to try it though as the queue is pretty long after I'm done with my manicure.
Food catered by Branches Cafe!
I was invited for a cafe tasting but I've to turned it down cox of work commitments and I finally got to try it at the event and HOLYMAMA THEIR FOOD IS SO DAMN GOOD?!?!?! I love their mini red velvet! Don't see it so small ah, it's super duper rich in taste and good omg *__*
The squid ink mini burger bun also super yums! the patty is super tender and juicy one! /drooling/
Even my bf approves. (He's a really picky eater btw lol)
With my +1 for the day!
Thanks for helping me carry all the heavy bags! <3 And he specially went down to get me macarons while I was doing my manicure cox I said I was craving for them T____T
P/S:
I haven't been blogging alot because there ain't lots of exciting things happening in my life right now LOL. I wanted to blog about the craftholic cafe but almost everything is out of stock except for the cake and parfaits :x So I can't really do a proper review on it... Hopefully I will have a new blog post up soon!!!
Kyushu Pancake Cafe Review
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
We arrived at about 1230pm and as you can see, the place is already pretty packed. The cafe is quite small, so it would be better if you call and make a reservation to guarantee a seat.
I actually read online somewhere that their service is bad, but we were greeted with a very friendly Japanese lady (She seems like a Japanese from her accent, or isit I'm just bias? lol) and it was a really nice experience there.
I would strongly recommend you to go during the lunch time as you can add on the drinks for just $3 for any mains purchase. Best thing? You can choose the most expensive drink at about $8 :3 #singaporean
Some of the mains on the menu.
I ordered the Buttermilk pancakes ($8.50) + iced fruit tea ($3.00 with the lunch promotion, if not it will be $7.90 for a cup) while my sister ordered the kyushu pancakes ($7.90) + Dorayaki smoothie ($3.00 with lunch promo, $8 w/o) Oh, and sorry to mention that there's a 10% service charge + 7% gst.
Both of the pancakes come with the wild honey sauce and fruit syrup, which complements really well with the pancakes. The whipped cream was super duper light, that it feels fat free lol! The buttermilk pancakes feel slightly sweeter then the kyushu one, but both tasted dense instead of fluffy. It's a totally different kind of pancakes like the one you have at Macdonalds.
Drinks wise, the iced fruit tea tasted like lemon tea, but they were pretty generous with the fruits though - kiwis, strawberries, lemon and apples. I had a sip of my sister's Dorayaki smoothie, it's super duper sweet and milky, highly recommended for someone that has an extremely sweet tooth.
Location wise, it is not very easy to find and we took a cab there from Novena. But actually it's just opposite la lol. Have to cross the overhead bridge and walk abit.
Overall experience: The pancakes here sort of tasted healthier of some sort? I will definitely be back to try some of their other pancakes creations! On a side note, they also sell the pancake flours, so if you're interested in making them at home, they do sell the flours ranging from $7 - $8+.
Address:
275 Thomson Rd, 307645
Hours:
Open Mon-Sun · 11AM–9PM
Phone:
6352 6265
How to get your hands on 純萃喝。chun cui he!
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
So the 純萃喝。chun cui he drinks has been in Singapore for more than a month now and it's still going OOS. For those that don't know what the hype is about, it's actually milk tea and latte that originates from Taiwan that looks like a shampoo bottle.
FINALLY GOT MY HANDS ON THEMMMMMM.
Apparently I heard there's 10 kind of different teas and latte under their branding, but their website only show 8.
However from what I heard from my friend who studied in Taiwan, Taiwanese do not find it nice at all. SURPRISE SURPRISE. I personally tried both and I find the milk tea just normal, the latte was smooth, but both to me, not worth the hype at all. It's nice la, just not so nice to the extend that I would go crazy about it. I would love to try other flavours though, maybe it's better than the milk tea hmmmm.
In the 2nd or 3rd week, my bf managed to source it from the 7-11 at Lavender at about 1-2am. So in this post, I'm going to share with you how to get your hands on these if you haven't got the chance to try it.
1.) Target 7-11 that operates 24h as they always do their restocking between 3am - 4am
According to one of their staff at their Bedok outlet, they told me the stocks always come in between that timing and there was once I set my alarm at 4am, the staff told me they were old left with latte. The milk tea was out of stock by 4am when the stocks came at 330am. WTF RIGHT?! Within 30 minutes at such ungodly hours and still sold out -_____-
2.) Call before you go down to the store to avoid disappointment.
Okay so now you know they do the restocking at 3am - 4am, it's not a GUARANTEE. So to avoid it being a wasted trip of walking down and get nothing, call the store again. You can google for the 7-11 no. easily. If the stocks is not in yet, ALWAYS ASK THEM WHETHER IF THEY KNOW WHEN THE DRINKS WILL BE RESTOCKED. If you're in luck and meet nice staffs, they will tell you, but a 60% chance you will stumbled upon a grumpy staff that tell you don't know don't know don't know x100 *roll eyes*
3.) Always click in the comment section of posts related to the drinks on Facebook pages.
Go to their main Facebook page and stalk the comment session and you will see 3 kinds of people there - People complaining that they can't find any stocks, people updating where have stocks and lastly, nice people that get extra bottles and selling at original prices.
God bless people like this. (But of course, if they are selling at the original price that is)
4.) Only if you're willing to pay - Carousell or Airfrov
As usual, people are buying to resell it on Carousell at a ridiculous price of $10 each.
Would you pay $10 for a bottle of milk tea?
You can also choose to download this app call Airfrov where you can request for your products overseas. You can also get other flavours of the milk tea/latte at about $4-$5 per bottle.
So what do you think about the Chun Cui He drinks? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
My Marmite My Way! - Marmite Chicken Recipe
Monday, August 1, 2016
*Sponsored post
I'm not sure whether if you've heard of Marmite, but I've always heard from my mum that she and her family used to have it with porridge and it was really yummy! I've not came across Marmite until 5-6 years ago, where I ordered a plate of Marmite Chicken with rice from a food court and it was really yummy! From then on I really really love the taste!!!!
I'm not sure whether if you've heard of Marmite, but I've always heard from my mum that she and her family used to have it with porridge and it was really yummy! I've not came across Marmite until 5-6 years ago, where I ordered a plate of Marmite Chicken with rice from a food court and it was really yummy! From then on I really really love the taste!!!!
As you can see, not only is Marmite affordable, it's also filled with benefits and widely available at your local supermarkets.
You had be surprised if you ever googled "Marmite recipes". There are endless of creations you can do with Marmite!!! Use it in your appetizers, your mains, and even desserts!!!! You can even use it as a spread on your bread.
So in today's recipe, I will be sharing with you a Marmite Chicken recipe that I adapted from Nasi Lemak's lover.
600g chicken, chopped into bite sizes
1 tbsb light soy sauce
1 tsp salt
Pepper
1 small egg
4 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp marmite
1tbsp honey
4 tbsp Maltose
1 tsp shrimp paste
100 ml hot water
2 cloves chopped garlic
Optional garnish - sesame seeds, red chilli shredded, parsley
1.) Marinate chicken with soy sauce, salt, pepper and egg for an hour or longer. I did it for about 3h so that my chicken will be more full in flavour.
2.) Add Marmite, honey, maltose* and shrimp paste to hot water, mix well and set aside.
*Maltose can be found at Sheng Siong Supermarket.
3.) Add in flour to the chicken and coat well, deep fried chicken over medium heat till golden brown.
For me, i didn't coat the chicken as I didn't want my chicken to be deep fried as I was sick, so I opted for a stir fried chicken instead. If you prefer to eat healthier, you can also do it the stir fried way too!!
4.) Use the same work, add in garlic and marmite mixture, stir and cook till big bubbles and add in fried chicken. Stir well to make sure chicken are well coated.
5.) Optional: Garnish with sesame seeds, red chilli and parsley.
For my readers:
You can head to SampleStore.com here to redeem your FREE Marmite bottle
sample from 8th August 2016!
After redeeming your free
sample, share in your Sample Store review your personal experience on how you enjoyed your Marmite free sample e.g. mix in porridge, soup, toast or cooking.
There will be 3 winners to each win 3 different sized bottles. Winners to be announced on Sample Store
Instagram & Facebook page.
Contest ends 30th September 2016.
See you all in the next post!
Hello Kitty Orchid Garden Cafe Review
Monday, July 25, 2016
Being a huge kitty fan, HOW CAN I MISS THIS OUT RIGHT!!!
So me and my sister went on a weekday afternoon at about 1130am, and the queue time was about 1h. A tip - Please bring something small along with you to munch on whenever you know you're going to queue. COX YOU WILL NEVER KNOW HOW LONG THE QUEUE IS. I didn't have breakfast and that 1h was a killer. Super lucky that I brought a small pack of chips along with me if not I would have died of hunger outside the cafe.
A hello kitty Menu. Duhhhh
We ordered:
Big Breakfast Surprise ($18.50)
Let's do the Salsa ($16.50)
Strawberry Marshmallow Tea ($8.00)
Speculoos Latte ($7.00)
We waited for about 20-30 minutes for our food. It's a long wait if you sit there, but there are many photo opportunities around so why not spend this time and go around the cafe to take photos? REMEMBER YOU ARE HERE FOR THE PHOTOS, NOT THE FOOD.
If you compare the prices to the one at Pom Pom Purin Cafe , this is slightly cheaper, but the portion of the food isn't as big as the one at Pom Pom Purin Cafe.
My sister's Iced Speculoos Latte came first and it comes along with a really cute coaster that you can bring home! I thought my tea didn't have one so I asked the waitress for it. Ended up it came along with the tea as well, so I have two coasters lol #yay
Oh did I mention that the lightings here are very good for camwhoring?
The sister posing with her waffle. I love the smoke duck!!! The waffle is a little cold and hard though.
What's a hello kitty cafe without merchandise? :3
Plant kits... that do not come cheap. If I'm not wrong they are $30+ each? I would prefer to buy my vegetables freshly from the market though.
I bought these set of postcards at $16.00 for 4, these are actually really good quality postcards - pretty thick, which explains the price.
There's actually two photo spot here, one is near the kitchen - which is the one my sister took a photo with.
And the second one at the far back seated! The lighting at the front one is clearly better though.
Oh and how can I forget, they are open 24h!!!!!! But of course don't expect everything on the menu to be available if you're there at 3am lah. You don't need rest, the chef also need rest ok? lol!
Will I be back again?
50-50. If the queue is short and I happen to have extra cash, I will go for another round!
So that's all I've for you today, see you in the next post :D
A pastel 21st Birthday Party
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Hello everyone!
In today's post I will be blogging about my 21st birthday party at the Sultan Hotel.
I booked the biggest Sultan Loft as I was expecting about 30 guests, but only about 22 turned up.
At first I was pretty worried about the room being too small (from the picture I found online) but ended up it was pretty big!! The room was about $350 for a night with complimentary breakfast and minibar.
Woke up at about 930am to prepare and headed out to Tampines to collect my birthday cake. I was super excited for it because it's my first time customizing cakes and it turns out to be AMAZING!!!!
I requested for my favorite baby breaths and strawberries!
I chose the color scheme as well, very pretty right!!!! Everyone is going "omg so pretty!!!!" over my cake :D
Anyways if you're wondering, it's an 8 inch vanilla salted caramel cake and it's more than enough to feed about 20 pax because it's really tall. I paid $98 for the cake, IT'S WORTH EVERY SINGLE CENT. Just that the cream is a little too sweet for the guests' liking, the sponge cake was really good though!
Bf helping me carry my cake on the way to the hotel!
My helpers for the day - my bf and his friend wk!
Thank you guys so much for helping me out!!! It's nice to have a tall friend because long hands long legs, easy do things LOLOLOL.
Wall setups! I can't believe my bf actually gave a great idea of sticking the balloons in a rainbow shape LOL because he usually just goes "anything la you decide" -roll eyes-
Always prepare extra snacks just in case the food is not enough. I bought my pastel paper plates and cups from Daiso. Seriously some places are totally charging crazy amount for PAPER pink plates and cups, like $6.90 for 20 pieces?! CRAZY OR WHAT. #teamdaiso
Made some popcorn treats for the guests to bring home! I got those labels online and printed them out to match my Pastel Alice in wonderland theme.
Menu that I designed to fit the theme as well. But clearly nobody gives a shit about it, it's just for decor purposes lol.
Food were from Stamford Catering!
I ordered their high tea set for 30 pax and there were still leftovers when the party ends.
I strongly recommend them! Especially the chocolate puffs omg. But my guests seems to love every dish though LOL.
Total damage is about $250 for the food just in case you're wondering.
It was tiring for me to walk up and down the stairs cox it was really steep, but thank god everyone came in groups so nobody was left out!
People I know from Endgods (left) and my secondary school clique (right)
It seems like all of my secondary school friends all wear glasses LOL.
My cousins (left) and polymates (right)
And last but not least, my mummy and my aunt!
Thank you all for attending my 21st Birthday party, I hope you guys enjoy the party as much as I do! And I'm kind of sad that photos kind of turn out grainy due to the lighting :( Btw the hotel room has really bad lightings, I'm glad my camera is able to take some good photos although most of them are from my iphone.
Woke up for their breakfast buffet. A total disappointment. Variety was so little and the food was cold and hard :(
Thank you guys for all the present!!!! LOVE ALL OF THEM!
@Zhiying if you're reading this I really love the birthday box card you made!!! Please look at the bottom right?! Just look at that double tier cake for me!
Thank you Endgods for the in game present as well ^_____^
Ending off with a candid shot taken by my bf.
Now that I'm 21, I find it really stressful because whatever we are doing since young, is all because of one thing - money. We study hard to get into good schools, get good grades and get a cert for a high paying job. We don't really get to choose what we wanna do, we are just doing for the sake to survive in this society. We gave up our dreams and ambitions, because we know that certain things for sure, isn't enough to support ourselves. We aren't courageous enough to try, because we are afraid of failure, and how much we can lose from multiple attempts.
I used to want lots in life; but after 21 years living in my life, I only wish for happiness. Happiness in my opinion, is the hardest to get in your life. You can buy everything, but you can't buy emotions and feelings. These are the things that make you human. However, many things in life stop you from being a happy person. Maybe it's your own expectations, maybe it's other expectations of you.
This is the reason why I only set a goal in life for myself - which is to get a house of my own. And also, be satisfied with what I have currently. Happy 21st to me xx.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
